Christmas Gifts #3: Apron

I guess this is the only picture I have of this apron I made Mindy.  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of this on her.  I suppose being sick with the flu on Christmas Day might explain it.

Christmas Gifts #2: Purse

Made this little felt purse for Sophie.  She giggled as she carried it around on her shoulder.   So cute!  Just cut out the front piece and blanket-stitched a flower on, made the back piece a little longer to allow for the flap.  Made a 2 1/2 inch-strip for the side.  (Actually I made each of these pieces double thickness for extra strength and firmness.)  Used a 3-inch strip to make a handle by doubling the sides into the middle, folding in half and stitching on the machine.  Blanket stitched everything together.  Used velcro to make it stay shut.  Filled it with things every lady needs like chapstick, a phone, a tablet, a book.   Ha!

Christmas Gifts #1: Car Mat

Had lots of fun making this play mat for Lucas for Christmas.  Bought decorator-weight fabric for the background.  Painted the roads with acrylic paint.  I got the idea here.

Chick-fill-A is Lucas' favorite restaurant, but I couldn't figure out how to make the logo.  So I ironed freezer paper on fabric to stiffen the fabric and ran it through the printer.  It worked fine.  I thought the red was a little light-colored, or dull, so I went over it with marker. 

 I wasn't sure how to put the dotted lines on until the last minute.  I thought about zigzagging or using Steam-a-Seam.  But I thought they would both take too long.  Finally I decided to use freezer paper.  I cut out the shapes on the freezer paper (actually I made about 5 of these stencils), ironed them on the roads, and then painted the lines with yellow acrylic.  Worked great and went fast.

Used this fun material for the back.  

Found these great wooden trees, street lights and road signs at Hearthsong. 

Bargains and More Bargains

So I've been using lots of felt for projects lately.  Just purchased more of some colors you see here that I needed to replenish.  So Joann Fabrics has felt on sale for 50% off.  Regular $4.99 on sale for $2.50.  And I had a coupon for 20% off everything, even sale items.  So, if I figure right it cost $2 a yard.  But the pink on the bottom was a piece that was an inch short of a yard, so the clerk gave it to me for half price, which was really half of half price, or $1.25 plus 20% off.  I think that's $1 a yard.  Whoo hoo.  

May not look like much but this is my new fabric organizer.  Wish I would have taken a before picture.  This is a big improvement, believe me.  And I love just looking at some of my favorite fabrics.  Plus, ta da, I got the shelf 20% off at Sauder Outlet.

What's Going On?

You might think I have put my sewing projects on hold. Not so! In fact, just the opposite. It has been a busy Santa's workshop around here. But since some of you are the ones who will receive the things I'm making, I can't post pics until after Christmas.  But I will give you a sneak peak, and you can keep guessing what the elves are up to around here.

A few secrets

Also working on a few other projects, but Christmas is coming so...all you get is a sneak peek of the great fabric I ordered.  It just came in the mail today and I can hardly wait to get started.

And I'll show you these because they are just too cute.  But don't let any little girls you might know see them.  (I think these will fit perfectly in a stocking.)  If you would like any for gifts, let me know.  I have plenty of supplies to make more.

Montana Wall Hanging

Just finished this little piece tonight.  I really like the scrap border (which probably took as long as the whole rest of the wall hanging-but totally worth it.)  Still deciding where it will hang in the cabin.

Scrap Bag

Made this bag last week.  It's totally made from scraps from a quilt that a friend made.  She has a neat idea to give a bag to each lady from church who has been diagnosed with cancer and I agreed to make the bags.  Each one will have a lap quilt, an encouraging book, and some other things in it.   

Shirring

This is a little doll dress I made.  I didn't have a pattern for a Cabbage Patch doll dress, so I looked at a doll dress I had.  I cut a long rectangle for the main part.  Then I folded it in half and used the doll dress to cut out arm holes.  I had never shirred before but had read about how to do it here.  It was EASY!  You just wind elastic thread by hand on the bobbin and then sew like normal.  The trick is when you finish, you lay your steam iron gently on top of the shirring (don't move it around at all) and the shirring tightens up and looks like this:

Then I cut some bias for the straps and added a little ruffle on the hem for fun.

Fishing Anyone?

I made a little fishing set out of felt for Caden's birthday.  I didn't take very good pictures of it.  Here you can see one of the fish by Caden's hand.  The eyes are velcro, and the end of the fish hook has velcro on it, too.

Zara discovered that it's easier to pick up the fish by the felt on their bodies.  I got the idea for the fishing set here.  I did change the directions a bit because I couldn't pull the body through the opening on the fin like it said.  I made my opening on the bottom of the fish and it was easy to pull through.  I used the end of a chopstick to poke out the corners.  I had read about doing that and it worked really well.

Sweet bedding

Found another quick project and sewed it up just in time to take to Zara.  I used some pillow casing I had from my mom, so that made it extra special.

They seem to fit the babies just right.

Itty Bitty Dress

I found a cute dress pattern for newborns on the internet here.  And since I had just been to the fabric store in Bettsville (so fun!) I had just what I needed to make a dress for little Claire.  Can't wait to see it on her.